A dominant lights-to-flag win for Audi driver Ekstr?m at Zandvoort
Zandvoort. With an undisputed lights-to-flag win, Swedish Audi driver Mattias Ekstr?m showed off his skills in the sixth season round of the DTM at Zandvoort. For the 29-year old, it was the second victory of this year, after having already won the season opener at Hockenheim. In total, Ekstr?m already was on the top step of the podium twelve times in his career in the DTM. ?A great weekend. First pole position yesterday, then victory today?, the reigning DTM champion said, delighted with his success. Second place at the track in the dunes by the North Sea went to his fellow Audi driver Timo Scheider. The German got eight points for this result and thus extended his lead in the points? standings. With his maximum score of ten points, Ekstr?m moved up into second place in the battle for the title and is now Scheider?s main rival. Tom Kristensen from Denmark finished third in the race and together with fourth-placed Martin Tomczyk (D), who had won the race at the same venue last year, he completed the quadruple victory for Audi in The Netherlands. Bruno Spengler was the best-placed Mercedes-Benz driver in fifth place.
The main loser of the start was Brit Jamie Green. The Mercedes-Benz driver lost three places and dropped back to seventh place. Green, runner-up in the points? standings prior to Zandvoort, caught up one more place during the race and crossed the finish line in sixth place. He is now third in the standings behind Scheider and Ekstr?m. German Markus Winkelhock was cheered by the crowds from the grand stands one lap before the end. With his year-old Audi A4 DTM, he overtook DTM record champion Bernd Schneider (D/Mercedes-Benz) and Mike Rockenfeller (D/Audi) in a spectacular way when the two were involved in a duel. Winkelhock finished eighth behind Scot Paul di Resta with his AMG Mercedes C-Class, Schneider and Rockenfeller finished ninth and tenth respectively.
DTM-novice Ralf Schumacher (D/Mercedes-Benz) improved from last place on the grid to twelfth place at the finish after 38 laps and 163.666 kilometres. The home race of former Formula 1 driver Christijan Albers was already over on the second lap. He came off the track, hit the barrier and had to park his car. Still, his fans got to see a good show. Prior to the race, the crowds were thrilled by demonstration laps featuring Albers with an Audi R10 TDI, Jos Verstappen with a Porsche RS Spyder and Scott Speed with a Red Bull NASCAR stock car.
In the DTM points? standings, Scheider is now leading with 40 points from Ekstr?m (35) and Green (34). The seventh DTM round of the year will be taking place at the N?rburgring on July 27th.
Mattias Ekstr?m (winner, Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline): ?A great weekend. First pole position yesterday, then victory today. Just perfect. My car was great and there was absolutely nothing to complain about today. Timo kept me under pressure all the time, so that I had to be on the limit throughout the race.?
Timo Scheider (2nd place Audi Sport Team Abt): ?Today, we will be really able to celebrate our quadruple victory. The race was real fun. I gave everything all the time, but today, there was just no way to get past Mattias.?
Tom Kristensen (3rd place, Audi Sport Team Abt): ?Today, Mattias and Timo have driven a very good and consistent race. At the beginning, I lost some time. Admittedly, I set the fastest lap time, but today, that wasn?t enough. Towards the end, I saved my tyres and safely drove third place home.?
Bruno Spengler (5th place, Mercedes-Benz Bank AMG Mercedes): ?We knew, that it wouldn?t be an easy race today. The team has kept on improving the car since the start of the season and is working day and night to make it even better still. There are five more races to go and 50 points at stake. Anything is still possible.?
Audi motorsport director Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich: ?Of course, I am very happy with this result, a perfect day. And as we all know, these don?t come too often. You have to claim the points that you can get. So we did. Today, everything was spot-on. I am delighted that our new Audi A4 DTM did so well at this challenging track at Zandvoort. Even though we were having four cars in the lead right after the start, it wasn?t easy, because we all know what can happen in the DTM.?
Mercedes-Benz motorsport director Norbert Haug: ?Today, Audi was quicker, congratulations to them. After we have won three times in a row, this was not one of our best races. We were caught out a little bit. Maybe, different weather would have been a little bit more helpful for us. At the N?rburgring in a fortnight, we need to improve. In the DTM, the balance of power can change pretty quickly and we are not that far behind for it to be impossible. When you win many races, you have to accept that you can sometimes lose as well.?
